My Only Hope
by MistressDarkness
Summary: Extended ending to 2x08 "Two Player." One-shot


Tyrone knew there was one more person he needed to check on tonight, someone who shouldn't be alone, not after what she had gone through. Tandy went straight from being in a fight for her life, to being kidnapped, to being abused in a human trafficking ring, and then dove headfirst into the darkforce to save him, all without even stopping to take a breath. And from what she told him, Andre had screwed with her head as well. Tandy was tough, but there's only so much one person can take.

Tyrone appear in Tandy's living room. He glanced around, but the room seemed empty, until he heard a harsh sob coming from the kitchen. He walked around the counter, his heart breaking at seeing Tandy sitting with her knees against her chest up leaning on the cabinet, her eyes red and puffy, tears streaming down her face. She didn't even acknowledge him as he slid down next to her, pulling her close to him. Another sob wracked her body. Tyrone could feel the tremors race through her.

A fire grew deep inside of him, a rage he had held against Connors for what he had done to his brother, being stoked to an inferno for what Andre had done to Tandy. He'd be damned if he ever let that man touch her again. "We're going to get him," he told her with conviction. She finally shifted so she could look at him. It wasn't the intense confidence he had been used to seeing in her eyes, but rather an insecure, questioning look. He hated seeing her like this, hated that it took him so long to find her, hated that he couldn't prevent it all from happening. What good were his powers if he couldn't protect the people closest to him?

"I promise you," he whispered. "He'll pay for what he's done." She tucked her head into the crook of his neck, curling into Tyrone. He felt her nod against him. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that," he told her. "Even morseso that you had to do it alone."

"Not your fault," she mumbled against his chest. Despite her words, he still felt partially responsible. He shouldn't have let her continue with that con she was running on Lia. He shouldn't have pushed her away to the point where she felt like she couldn't call Tyrone for help. His thoughts skidded to a halt at her next admission, "it's mine."

Tyrone couldn't believe the words he was hearing come out of her mouth. "No," he said forcefully. "No, no, no." He took her face gently in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "Tandy, look at me." Her watery eyes rose to meet his. "None of this is your fault. You _have_ to know that."

"No," she responded, her voice getting back some of its strength. "I should have been helping you with Connors, I shouldn't have dragged you into that story with Lia, I shouldn't have gone after those guys, I...shouldn't have fucking trusted Lia and Andre. God damn it, I trusted them!" she pounded her fist into the floor, hitting the back of her head against the cabinets. "I let my guard down…"

Jesus, she really believed that, didn't she? That this was all on her? "Tandy, you can't be held responsible for what those monsters did to you. There was no way you could have known they were behind everything." How could he convince her she wasn't to blame when he was trying to shoulder the blame himself?

She turned her head away from him, biting down on her bottom lip. Tandy was the victim in this case, and she fucking hated it, with every fiber of her being. This wasn't her, this wasn't who she was. Yet her own mind kept betraying her, berating her. She grabbed her head, fingernails digging into her scalp, allowing her to focus on physical pain rather than the mental and emotional ones she was dealing with.

Tyrone grabbed her wrists, pulling them back down before she cut herself so deep she started bleeding. Neither of them missed the way her breath hitched at the contact, the fear that crossed her eyes. "M'sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed by her body's reactions.

Tyrone's heart sped up at the implication of her actions. He remembered the outfit she had been wearing when he found her, one she never would have picked for herself. There was a question he didn't want to ask, but he needed to know the answer to. "Tandy…" he waited until she looked at him. "Did anyone...were you...forced to…" the words refused to leave his mouth, too horrible to even contemplate.

Tandy picked up on his meaning, her eyes closing, more tears leaking out as the memories and the feelings that went with them flooded her mind. "No," she shook her head softly. "You got there just in time."

"Just in time?" Tyrone questioned before he could stop himself, his momentary relief gone. How far had things gone in her definition of 'just in time?'

"Nothing happened yet, but there um," she licked her lips, her eyes shifting around the room, as if the walls could hear her, "there was a guy in the room...with me."

Tyrone was pretty sure his heart had stopped, his whole body went cold. "Shit," he whispered.

Tandy chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, a whole stinking pile of it." She let out a shaky breath. She still wasn't quite sure how her dagger had reappeared in that moment; she had never felt so hopeless in her entire life. "They gave me some type of drug, after I tried to escape...I couldn't move. I felt...I felt like I was back in that water, the first day we met. I was drowning, sinking lower and lower, everything muffled, the edges of my vision darkening." He felt her shiver against him. "All the shit I've been through- I've never felt as helpless as I did in that moment, with that guy approaching me, knowing what was about to happen." Her whole body was trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Tyrone gathered her up in his arms, she clung tight to him, her fists clenching his shirt like her life depended on it. "You died in my arms. They took you from me Ty," she cried, "I had no hope."

"Hey, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, you hear me?" he told her.

"But you almost did! I found out you were alive only to have you collapse into my arms again seconds later! And _you didn't want to come home_."

Tyrone felt the vice grip around his heart. Had he really been willing to leave Tandy to deal with all of this on her own? He felt like an asshole. "I'm so sorry," he breathed, his eyes downcast. His gaze finally landed on something he hadn't noticed before. He picked up the empty pill bottle laying next to Tandy, his eyes growing wide, terror racing through him. "Tandy?" he asked, his breathing getting quicker. He searched her face for an answer. God, she wouldn't...would she? "You didn't-"

"No." She snapped. "Not me," she choked out.

So if not Tandy, then who else- oh. He closed his eyes briefly; like Tandy didn't have enough to deal with.

"Last thing I did is yell at her, blame her for not leaving my dad. I drove her right back to drugs and alcohol," she scoffed, disgusted with herself. She didn't know what it was like before, to be stuck in an abusive situation. She was only in it for a few days and she couldn't think straight. She couldn't imagine what years of that would do to someone. She saw what it did to her mom, to Del… she let out a scream of frustration.

"You didn't do that, she made her own choices."

"Maybe, but I sure as hell didn't help. I practically pushed her towards it. And- fuck! The last time I didn't respond to her messages right away she panicked. I went and got myself kidnapped and she couldn't handle the anxiety and-"

"Tandy stop!" Tyrone said, interrupting her tirade. "You can't do this to yourself, you can't blame yourself for other people's choices. Asking 'what if' will only torment you further. Truth is, no one knows what would have happened if we had chosen different paths: maybe things would be different, or maybe they would have played out exactly the same way." Tyrone shook his head, "you had a target on your back since day one. Pretty young girl, a former runaway with few people who'd go looking for her. I should have seen it coming too. And trust me, I'm kicking myself for not seeing it either. Lia and Andre have had their eyes on you for a while," he growled.

Tandy laid a hand on his chest. "This isn't on you."

"If it's on you, then it's on me too."

Tandy shook her head vehemently.

"No, I made mistakes too. I never should have said those words to you when I saw you last. I was wrong. I need you in my life Tandy."

Two tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, "I need you too."

Tyrone tucked her head under his chin as she fought to regain control over herself. He glanced around the house. He couldn't leave Tandy here, not in her current state. What's left of her world was crashing down around her. She was susceptible to falling back into drugs and alcohol if she stayed around her mom. There was no way he was leaving her alone.

"I'll take you home."

"Please," she begged.

The two of them disappeared in a swirl of black smoke, reappearing in Tyrone's makeshift bed in the abandoned church. Tyrone laid them both down, Tandy still curled into him, their legs intertwined. He rubbed her back soothingly, her tremors slowly dissipating, her sobs becoming further and further apart. "I've got you," he told her softly. "You're safe with me."

It was the only place she did feel safe, in Tyrone's arms.


End file.
